Observations about and lessons learned from living life with Labrador retrievers

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Getting There

Those who follow us on Facebook know our old Voyager van, the designated doggy-transportation mobile, cracked a head gasket and died. Though it served us faithfully for fifteen years, we felt it was no longer worth investing in for repair.

Too bad, so sad.

That meant, if we were still going to the lake as planned, we'd have to find some other vehicle big enough to carry crates and gear, not to mention doggies and people.

Bless his heart, DH has eyed pick-ups for decades (literally), but it never seemed the right time (nor life season) for him to get one. It wasn't practical.

*grin* Until now. :o)

After looking and looking and looking, we finally found one we liked, that had all the features/stats we deemed necessary, and (the big "and") that we could afford. We took it for a test drive, and, lo and behold, DH finally got his truck (a 2005 half-ton Chevy Silverado with 105,000 miles on it in fantastic shape and fully warrantied for three years).

The only downside was that it didn't have a cap for the bed. No worries: we could just get one from a cap dealer. We had the truck fitted and ordered one. Problem solved.

Well, sort of. The cap didn't arrive before our scheduled trip to the cottage. Ruh roh. That meant the dogs would have to ride in the back of the truck with no cover.

Oh my.

I was admittedly nervous (visions of crates of canines bouncing around in and finally out of the truck bed danced through my head), but I needn't have worried. If I knew anything after being married to DH for nearly 30 years, it's that this man knows how to pack a vehicle, and can pack it tight.

Three dogs in two crates, two tool duffels, food bins, doggie supplies, an extra collapsed crate, one weed whacker, assorted luggage, fishing gear, a circular saw, and a few groceries later the truck bed was packed solid -- not a wiggle's worth of shift:

We put Pinot and Chessie in one crate up against the back window, put Tuc in another crate butted against the girls' crate, and then kept Elsie and Kenya (the "old" gals) in the cab with us in the back seat

And all rode fabulously without complaint or harm:

Kenya and Elsie particularly enjoyed their quarters:

Sweet, snuggly girls. :o)

While Elsie and Kenya slept, Tuc, Chessie, and Pinot sat, stood, sniffed, watched, and otherwise had great fun entertaining passing truck drivers. They barked only when we stopped at traffic lights or passed pedestrians on sidewalks.

Much to my relief, traveling with an open bed provided grand-but-safe adventures, both up to the cottage and back again a week later (driving only in good weather, of course). All without a hitch.

And, don't you know, a message greeted us upon our return with news that the bed-cap was in and ready to be installed.

Figures.

Looks like traveling in an open bed will have to be a once-in-a-lifetime adventure for the canine crew; the open bed is open no more:

4 comments:

Adorable! I am so glad to see that you put them in crates in the back. I know people think it seems more fun to let them loose in the back of a pickup truck but I can't stand the worry, wondering if one might jump, never mind other things that can go wrong.

My coonhound sits on the back seat of the car riding many miles to the vet [big county, out in the woods]. Windows are down somewhat as air conditioning not getting fixed any time soon due to age and $. I saw something black nearly in the road ahead, thinking it was a large black lab. Stopped to look, as no traffic on the road. Young bear greeted us and crossed the road. Cinnamon was VERY excited from sniffing the bear!!! I was glad the windows were up. WHAT FUN.